Public health v personal liberty

The COVID restrictions governments have put in place to contain the pandemic may safeguard our health but they could also corrode public trust and even the stability of liberal democracies.

Putting children and young people first

COVID-19 has put the spotlight on older people, but as we emerge from the pandemic, we will need to refocus on the needs of younger adults and children and the environments in which they live, work and play.

A choppy transition from pandemic to endemic

The Victorian and New South Wales governments are looking forward to life returning to normality despite the inexorable rise of COVID infections.

Opening up at 80% vaccinations may come with a price

A team modelling the reduction of COVID-19 restrictions after 80 per cent of the adult population is vaccinated is warning that threshold is not high enough, in contrast to the Doherty model the government’s vaccination targets are based on.

The ethical implications of vaccine passports

UNSW legal and software engineering experts look at the implications of vaccine passports and the impact on people’s liberty and safety.

We need a national plan to re-open

NSW and Victoria are in the midst of a spiraling epidemic, while other states maintain hard borders to protect themselves. We need a robust national plan all states can sign up to, without hedging or caveats, to protect Australian’s health while returning closer to normal life.

Vaccine thresholds raise the danger of repeating past mistakes

Australia could again fall into the trap of false economies by opening up too soon when vaccine rates hit 70 or 80% and allowing the COVID vaccine to run rampant.

Can we open up with 70% vaccinations?

NSW and the Federal Government are keen to press ahead with reducing restrictions as vaccinations climb, but the much vaunted Doherty Plan may not be the end of the issue.

What is Delta doing to our mental health?

A UNSW expert on post-traumatic stress and anxiety explains why this year’s lockdown is affecting everyone – and especially vulnerable groups – differently.

A cure worse than the disease?

Australia’s state and federal leaders are now pinning their hopes on vaccinations to overcome COVID-19 but stringent lockdowns are still in place across much of the country, leaving some people wondering if the price is worth paying in terms of social impact and personal freedoms.

‘Nudging’ people to get vaccinated

Too much of our discussion about vaccine hesitancy has been imagining the problem in rational terms, but perceptions about COVID-19 and vaccines are driven by emotion, not reason and the more we factor that emotion in, the better our responses will be.

Vaccine passports v mandatory jabs

As the nation proceeds – but still at an agonisingly slow pace – towards the targets of having 70% and 80% of those 16 and over fully vaccinated, the next big debate is about making the jab compulsory in workplaces.